Lyonessa Dawntracker
“Thanks to my arrow, running away isn’t even an option” Physical Description Ammonlyn, pronounced Ah-Muhn-Len, has dark sun kissed skin. She is statuesque but has a delicate build. Her hair is the colour of midnight and there are traces of blossoms and leaves intertwined through the heavy mass. She smells faintly of a smoky peat moss campfire and is followed around by a giant rat. Ammonlyn's face is unmarked by scars or heavy makeup but there are faint, sky-blue, painted runes running down the left side of her face from the top of her hairline to the bottom of her jaw line (could these be wards?) More runes are painted on the inside of her arms from wrist to elbow. Her clothing is tribal, fashioned out of skins, feathers and plant material. There are tribal beads stitched into the garments fabric and they give off a magical glow; a powerful ancient magic was used to forge such spells into these beads, they almost have a life of their own. (They alarmingly look like Amani beads.) The bow she wields looks aged and battered. When Ammonlyn is performing her civic duty, as a ranger for Quel’Thalas, she is seen wearing the crimson robes of Silvermoon City. Personality & Motives Ammonlyn is a superb forest fighter who prefers solitude and travels with others only when forced to do so. She speaks infrequently and only in short sentences. She has a deep affection for the wilderness and is known to have scalped a man for killing a critter in front of her. As a defence against the mass prejudice of blood elves’ being insane magic sucking evil creatures, Ammonlyn has become a fierce jingoist, believing that the only people she can truly trust is her kind. The only time you will see her attack a blood elf is if she is forced to choose between the Amani forest trolls and blood elves – her loyalty will forever lay with the forest trolls. She is only her honest, unguarded, self when she is in the wilds away from the confines of heavily populated areas, were she is good-humoured, relaxed and lively. History Baptism of Fire. Ammonlyn was born during the second war in Quel'Thalas. As the direct descendant of the high elven military clan, Dawntracker, Ammonlyn was born to be a military genius. The only child of two skilled rangers Anir and Lona Dawntracker, of the Elven Ranger Corps, niece to legendary Ranger Lord Hawkspear, Ammonlyn’s childhood was filled with violence and turmoil as she watched her family fight with a bow against Orgrim Doomhammerfire demented orc troops. Being raised during a war meant Ammonlyn had to mature at a rapid rate; she was taught the basic self defence training as soon as her child self could absorb the information. She was told every day the orcs were a violent and vicious race, crazed on magic and the Alliance was weak and they lacked the right leadership and discipline, skills the high elves prided themselves on. Even though Doomhammer failed Ammonlyn developed a deep mistrust of the bloodthirsty orcs and the weakness of the Alliance (especially humans) and always retreated into a battle ready stillness when one was near. During the after math of the war Ammonlyn had to endure the very frustrating and scary task of re acquainting herself with her parents. Her mother, Lona, lost her twin sister and parents and was never quite the same so it was up to her father, Anir, to teach Ammonlyn of the kinder things life had to often. Anir’s consent determination to get to know his daughter proved to be Ammonlyn’s saving grace. Like clockwork he would wake his little daughter up before dawn and take her to one of his favourite fishing spots. Always shy of others Ammonlyn would often hide behind her father if they bumped into someone. Worried about Ammonlyn’s behaviour Anir would fill the awkward silence with fun and amusing facts about the local fauna and wildlife as well as stories of his mischievous adventures as a child in the forest (Ammonlyn could never picture her father as a young boy so she pretended he was talking about a little bunny called Anir the second.) Dawn became Ammonlyn’s favourite time of the day, she never had to worry about the pressure of needing to talk, since her daddy was always talking, and she fell in love with stillness of the sleeping forest and watching the little beasties wake up as the sun rose. The peace and quiet fishing brought into her life was bliss. As her love for their fishing expedition became more apparent Anir made sure he took her to new and diverse terrains. It was during a trip near the magical fortress of Dalaran that Ammonlyn saw the distressing sight of a Giant Rat drowning in the lake. Seeing his daughter was clearly distressed Anir jumped into the lake, in his full military garb, to rescue the wretched critter. After much superfluous fuss (and after Anir had to give his tiny daughter his spare dry shirt as a make shift bed for the rat) Ammonlyn declared that this is the luckiest rat in the whole world. Much to her father’s disgust ‘Lucky’ became the newest member of the prestigious Dawntracker clan that day. The Scourge incursion. When Ammonlyn was a teenager the scourge invaded Quel'Thalas. She was separated from her family as she was forced to flee her birth city. Ammonlyn’s Father paid a neighbour to smuggle her safely out of Silvermoon City and to hide her on the safer shores of Sunstrider Isle. Instead she was taken to the foothills of Amani Pass (Hatchet Hills) where she was abandoned (the villain only wanted her father’s money.) Alone and frightened a local elderly forest troll who witnessed the shameless act took pity on the terrified girl and welcomed Ammonlyn into his home. Too worried about her family Ammonlyn forgot about past prejudices and in doing so found an unlikely safe haven within the Zeb'Nowa tribe. Meanwhile her family joined forces with more elven rangers and stationed themselves near the ruined Lordaeron palace gardens to wait for resources so they could fight back. It was there that the dread death knight Arthas returned to Lordaeron. Her family didn't stand a chance as Arthas, along with Kel'thuzad and Sylvanas Windrunner, came upon the group and made quick work of her brethren. Ammonlyn has never forgotten these key figures in her family’s death or the fact that her family’s souls maybe trapped within the putrid coffin of Frostmourne. Ammonlyn learned of the devastation the scourge could bring first hand as she searched for the remains of her family amongst the ashes managing to salvage Ammonlyn’s aunt’s bow - an eternal souvenir of this malevolent day. Fearing the scourge had slaughtered all her family in its entirety Ammonlyn spent this time searching for survivors. Desperate to see if any of her family survived she hunted through the devastation trying to find any clue a family member’s survival. She found Lord Ranger Hawkspear, her uncle, had survived. Hawkspear wanted nothing to do with the girl as she reminded her too much of his sister (her mother Lona) and shunned all of Ammonlyn’s attempts of communication. Ammonlyn was devastated in more than one way when Hawkspear posted his last letter to her. The letter read: Always thinking she was an only child the news of siblings floored her and yet, with Hawkspear threatening her if she tried to form any connection, she had no idea who to turn to to ask if she did have siblings. With a heavy heart she returned to Zeb’Nowa. Unlikely Allies. Growing up with the emotional scars of having witness two wars and growing up without the guidance, love and discipline of a family in her teenage years, Ammonlyn grew into a feral recluse, shunning all social behaviour and preferring the company of only her pet rat, Lucky. The Zeb'Nowa tribe did as best as they could, to raise a high elf as one of their own, but it was hard for most Forest Trolls to acknowledge her presence; Generational prejudice runs both ways. As a result Ammonlyn spent a lot of time growing up in the wild. This lifestyle made her excel in outdoor survival skills, such as tracking and laying traps. She became a stalker in the wild, living on her knowledge of wilderness survival that her father passed down during their dawn walks. She became deeply in tune with nature, and learnt to master the beast master’s call. The greatest of the forest beasts couldn’t resist her call when she was in need of them; the rarest often stayed by her side as life guardians. Ammonlyn developed into a superb forest fighter and honed a zealous marksman skill with her aunt’s bow. The Wilderness Stalker of Zeb'Nowa. As her skill with her bow and arrow grew so did attention from other Forest Trolls, namely Zul'jin, who started to call her the great Huntsman of Hatchet Hills. This new acceptance allowed her to interact with the Forest trolls more effortlessly, as they no longer saw her as an elf but instead a huntsman, something they could relate to. In particular the shadow hunters of Zeb'Nowa saw Ammonlyn in new light and started to teach her about loa and taught her to perform natural magics. Ammonlyn was taught the world is full of unseen spirits and spirits are greedy, hostile and dangerous and they are as individual as living creatures. She was taught fel and arcane magics were harmful to her and if she were to ever fall victim of unclean magics these spirits could invade her and damage her natural essence within. This knowledge caused great superstitions within Ammonlyn and she has painted many protective runes on her skin to prevent these spirits from corrupting her. Because of her loathing for the undead Ammonlyn paid great attention to the teachings on Samedi. Samedi is the Loa of cemeteries and the restful sleep of the dead. In Samedi’s eyes, the undead are abominations that should be destroyed and Ammonlyn couldn’t agree more. She often calls on Samedi during Hallow’s End. After months of training and fighting in the wilderness with the shadow hunters as her mentors, her tribe chose to give her a final test, a master assessment to test her wilderness skills and resolve, not surprisingly, few pass this gruelling ordeal. Ammonlyn was only offered a waterskin and was teleported by Zul’jin into the unknown, unfamiliar and unkind land of Dun Morogh. After a month of successful survival in the snow-swept land (and after befriending a rare mighty albino bear) a large festivity was held back in her honour at Zeb’Nowa were she was officially welcomed into the tribe. As she passed the final test her mentors recommended she call herself a wilderness stalker. Accidental Occupation. With the thirst of following her parents footsteps Ammonlyn sought more combat training but this time it was a more refined elven ranger training from blood elf Ranger Jaela. Jaela's strict training reminded her of her father’s own discipline, something she was always missing from wilderness survival training, and the two soon became fast friends. During one of her training days Ammonlyn was fortunate enough to be practicing her archery at the same range as Halduron Brightwing. Brightwing was so impressed with Ammonlyn's skill and vicious wilderness tactics that he fondly called her his ‘Amazon Ranger of Quel'Thalas.' As much as she didn't want it to this title has stuck with her within the Blood Elf community even though, to this day, she is loathes the title. Shortly after their first encounter Brightwing enlisted Ammonlyn as a Ranger for Quel’Thalas. As Brightwing arrogantly presumed she would become one of his rangers without actually offering her the role Ammonlyn considers this more as a civic duty, not a lifestyle or profession. Since Brightwing hasn’t a clue what her relationship with the forest trolls is like she has made a precautionary measure by making sure all official government mail is addressed to Hatchet Hills not Zeb’Nowa. Becoming a Blood Elf. Born a high elf Ammonlyn does not consider herself as one, instead she prefers to be called a blood elf out of honour of her parents whom were killed during the siege of Quel'Thalas by the Scourge. She cares not for elven politics and believes her race as a whole has fallen victim to many hate crimes many times over by many different races and doesn’t blame or judge any of the blood elves who crossed the Dark Portal “seeking out the destiny” promised them by Kael'thas. She has never developed an addiction to fel magics and finds it offensive when anyone instantly thinks she is corrupted or tainted by magic because she prefers the blood elf tag. She finds this mass belief about the blood elves very stereotypical and despises those who think that way. Courted by the Enemy. After several months as being an official blood elf ranger of Quel’Thalas Ammonlyn received her first major assignment from Brightwing. Her Tasks was to escort some noble blood elves from Thrallmar to Stonard. This simple mission soon turned into a harrowing journey into Hellfire Peninsula where she eventually aided an alliance Paladin, Arator the Redeemer, in destroying a group of demons, led by a gigantic pit commander, who staged a grand assault on the stair of destiny. Following the success of the mission, Ammonlyn was asked to act as an Ambassador of Quel’Thalas by Lor'themar Theron in Hellfire Peninsula. She was tasked with touring Hellfire Peninsula to remind everyone that there were still large threats in Hellfire Peninsula that they would have to face sooner or later and to teach the blood elf community basic self defence tactics. During this time she was frequently visited by Arator and the two soon fell in love. As news of the heated love affair travelled, a few members of the Alliance aristocracy, including lady Jaina Proudmoore, found the opposing faction match abhorrent. Ammonlyn soon learnt of Jania’s ill intent towards her but was too late in stopping Jaina forging a malicious Shadow Council hate spell on Arator. The spell successfully separated the two. Before Ammonlyn left Hellfire Peninsula Arator warned if she was ever to return he would abduct her and take her to the Alliance hold. To this day Arator is unaware of Jaina’s involvement in the separation. A Mercenary Act. Upon arriving back to Silvermoon City, Ammonlyn was “requested” to pay Lor'themar Theron a visit. It was there that her world fell apart for the second time in such a short time. She was sent on a mission of great urgency, the mission? It was to deliver a package to the Banshee Bitch Sylvanas Windrunner, murderer of her family, leader of the undead scum. Ammonlyn could not believe her government would treat her with such disrespect. After the completion of the repulsive mission Ammonlyn feeling hurt and dejected headed into Eversong Woods. Not really knowing where she was headed Ammonlyn found herself at the doorstep of Farstriders Retreat by chance and not one to let an opportunity slip through her hands she proceeded, for the first time in her life, to get completely sloshed on some local brew. Whilst she was brooding over life’s events she didn’t bat an eyelash when a group of blood elves invited themselves at her table. Over that night, with many heated discussions made in the softest, but harshest, of whispers Ammonlyn collected her most recent title to her growing military portfolio – Farstrider. Ammonlyn was now working for the government and the mercenaries whilst living amongst their mortal enemies. The irony has not gone unnoticed. The Farstriders who approached her were interested solely in reclaiming the southern section of Quel'Thalas, which has been heavily afflicted by the scum scourge. All they asked of Ammonlyn was to lend them her marksmanship skills when they planned surgical strikes against the blight on their land. They saw their mission as a broad one: to seek out and eradicate evil. What sealed the deal was this particular group also harboured ill feelings towards the undead and they didn't like the fact that the Horde let the Forsaken into their ranks just because of Sylvanas new saintly intentions. Present Day Currently Ammonlyn still lives a cheery, at times exasperating, life in her Zeb’Nowa tribe. She successfully keeps her personal and work life separate as she still has her government mail delivered to an abandoned hut in Hatchet Hills. She still works for both the government and mercenary forces in the region but after a disastrous last mission as a ranger of Quel’Thalas, which was so not her fault (she is cooling her heals with some recreational fishing and guerrilla scourge sniping until Brightwing allows her to return to the ranks.) She explores the wilderness, calls on Samedi to scare the local children, dreams of Arator most nights and takes dawn walks through the forest with Lucky. She wonders about the possibility of siblings now and again but as her parents never told her anything she assumed Hawkspear was deliberately baiting her that day. As always she is still on the lookout to improve her military skills and knowledge so one day she can face her family’s killers and give them a little taste of revenge.... well not so little.